Category

Shopping Centres

Mar 15
0
open shop

April 12th. We’re ready. Are you?

By | Blog, Shopping Centres

According to Helen Dickinson OBE, Head of British Retail Consortium, the cost of lost sales to non-essential stores during lockdown is now over £22bn and counting. This means April 12th for thousands of businesses cannot come quick enough.

Whilst there is trepidation amongst retailers that customers won’t be returning when the shops open, consumers have an air of excitement that there will be a semblance of normality to everyday life.

We know that Lockdown 3 has been dynamic and multifaceted and consumer’s behaviour has changed since 2020.  We have seen an increase in online trading and in February some online channels recorded strong sales, some up to triple figure growth. A trend, which is predicted to remain the same after lockdown. This means, for retailers having an omnichannel approach is absolutely essential.

A recent report from McKinsey stated:

“We expect these changes will shape consumers’ habits even beyond the effects of COVID-19,” says McKinsey. “In…the U.S., upward of 60% of consumers who tried a new behaviour plans to stick with it post-crisis.”

Brand loyalty has also decreased, with up to 62% of people changing their brand preferences since March 2020, so consumers are making broader choices than previously.

are you back to business ready?

So. The challenges to reopening on April 12th are tough.

The great news is, that there is huge pent up demand for spending and economists are predicting that we will see spend rebound, and UK stores can expected a 47.9% week-on-week leap in footfall, according to Springboard data.

Are you aware of what consumers feel about returning to face to face shopping?

How are you preparing?

Here are a few thoughts for you to get yourself ready to go with a smile and doors wide open on April 12th:

  • Welcome shoppers back into a safe & trustworthy environment
  • Re-build brand loyalty around enjoying retail again
  • Remind them to keep a safe distance for now
  • Allow them to look forward to getting back to normal soon
  • Plan for the future – themes, events and campaigns to look forward to

The most important thing is that your customers have the best shopping experience, you and your team are taking charge, and you’ve created the most positive, engaging experience possible.

We create #backtobusiness marketing plans for retailers looking forward to reopening their doors and need a kick start!

Get in touch TODAY for a free 30 min strategy chat – sayhello@onbrand.co.uk

To see our news & tips first, follow us on LinkedIn or call us on 03333 220022 for a friendly chat with the team.

Dec 03
0

OnBrand Supporting Local Charities to Brighten St Albans this Christmas

By | Blog, Events, Shopping Centres

At OnBrand we are great believers in bringing the community together. We absolutely love what Sustainable St Albans are doing to brighten up the wider area and bring a Christmas spirit with their Festive Streets project.

The project encourages homes, shops and businesses to decorate their windows during the festive season, to create a safe way of celebrating and bringing local communities together. 

As experts in retail design, we want to support this initiative and have created a template of a 2-dimensional Christmas star, as well as a more dynamic 3-dimensional option.  

  

Both of these can be downloaded below and have easy to follow guides. It can then be decorated with some materials you may have at home, for example some old newspaper, left over wrapping paper or just get the kids crafting! 

Click below to start downloading. 

Download sustainable star option 1

Download sustainable star option 2

Download sustainable star option 3

We’ve also seen “The Rainbow Trail” that started earlier this week, which is an amazing way to bring the community together whilst raising money for local charities. Check it out here.

It involves creating festive displays, virtual Christmas decorations and Spotting the Red Robin. Just like the rainbow drawings for the NHS over the summer, please look out for the Red Robin in people’s homes.  

Also, keep an eye out for the fantastically Christmas dressed post boxes in aid of charity too. You can do so by clicking here!

So, get decorating and let’s work together to make Christmas in St Albans 2020 a bright, sparkly one! 

Oct 12
0

Preparing for a very different Peak Season: a summary of webinar insights by ShopperTrak UK

By | Blog, Digital, In-Store, Shopping Centres, Social

As a marketing agency working across numerous retail clients, from independent stores local to St Albans, to multi-store shopping centres across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, at OnBrand we were keen to hear from retail footfall experts, ShopperTrak, on their Q4 predictions, given the rather unpredictable year we have been having so far.

The agenda covered Summer Traffic Trends, Current Propensity to Purchase, Consumer Sentiment and Q4 Predictions, delivered by a panel of experts: Andy Sumpter and Chris Fowler from ShopperTrak, plus Kyle Monk from the British Retail Consortium.

UK footfall in recovery

Starting with a snapshop of footfall trends across Europe, the UK’s position was explained as slow but steady recovery. Having gone later into lockdown than other countries, but alongside the others in coming back out, the overall impact on footfall was reduced compared to others such as France and Spain, still struggling to encourage consumer demand onto their high streets.

UK retail traffic numbers improved quickly post-lockdown, despite active cases of COVID-19 increasing. This suggests that retailers succeeded in acting quickly to create a safe shopping environment, and that the UK saw a surge of pent-up demand for shopping when stores re-opened, beyond topping up on essentials. As trips to the high street and shopping centres became part of normal life again, many felt the need to escape the lockdown bubble of a restricted home, work and family life, confined to the same four walls.

Cities suffered the most from decline in traffic

With commuters worldwide told to stay home, understandably, the major cities have suffered most from the sudden drop in footfall. We know a huge majority turned to shopping online, but interestingly, UK retail parks have bucked the footfall trend, outperforming all other shopping options, both throughout lockdown and with an ongoing trend in recent months.

Compared with traffic levels seen by high streets, shopping centres and outlets, retail parks have jumped ahead of their usual path since early March and are still welcoming the majority of visitors today. This could be down to shoppers feeling safer in a predominantly outdoor setting, with easy car parking, established click and collect services and a relatively speedy shopping experience.  It also fits with DIY and home improvements growing in popularity during lockdown, with many of us finding time to finish that ever-growing list of home projects.

Saturday shopping now spread over the week

One of the most interesting facts to come from the webinar was new evidence of a change in daily shopping patterns. Saturday shopping has changed since the pandemic: it is not the big family shopping day that it once was.

The average weekly traffic mix by day of the week is either slightly more or equal to the pre-lockdown %. But Saturday traffic dropped the most during lockdown, and has remained lower than before. Pre-pandemic, Saturday enjoyed 20% of the week’s traffic, dropping to 16% in lockdown, and only creeping back to 18% in recent months.

Perhaps, with offices closed across the country, instead of shoppers looking forward to weekend family retail and leisure time, they have become used to spreading their visits across the week?  We welcomed the news during lockdown that working from home had a positive effect on rediscovering the local high street.  Popping to the shops now doesn’t need to wait until the weekend, with reduced commuting time and more flexible working hours making #shoplocal mid-week trips more accessible.

 

Shoppers know exactly what they want

And now for the good news! Shoppers are more purposeful when they visit. They are planning fewer spontaneous purchases, so are more decisive and make a journey for a specific reason, which means conversion rate and average transaction value have both seen a jump since stores reopened. With a resulting 26.9% increase in Sales per Shopper, this is positive news as we approach peak shopping season. With footfall continuing to climb, every shopper walking in through the door has become more valuable.

 

What does this mean for retailers?

Now, more than ever, retailers need to work hard to get their customer experience right first time. Ensure the right staffing levels are in place across the whole week, not just at weekends. Train each and every team member on new safety measures, and how to manage a customer’s needs in the current climate.

The retail environment needs to be seen with new post-COVID eyes, where touching and testing products is restricted, shoppers are cautious to enter and spend shorter time just browsing. How can retailers reassure shoppers? By making sure their payment process is slick, ideally contactless. By working hard to make click and collect procedures satisfactory for both those shopping in store and those dropping by to collect. Anything to avoid delays, frustrations or unsightly, lengthy queues.

At OnBrand, we have helped clients through the pandemic by using their marketing channels to better communicate with shoppers who may not be currently visiting stores. What time of day is the best to visit? Which stores are open? Are there special offers available?

In the webinar, ShopperTrak suggested that footfall counters could help share this information with the shopping public, perhaps recommending lower volume shopping days by making the stats highly visible on a retailer homepage?  We implemented exactly this tool recently with Fairhill Shopping Centre in Ballymena, using a simple traffic light system indicating when the centre was at its busiest, and therefore best to avoid, or calmer and safe to visit.

We have also created social media plans that share friendly reminders of new safety measures put in place, ideally with day to day real customer satisfaction. In this time of uncertainly, all shopping information shared needs to be up to date, whether on in-store posters, Google My Business directories, local community websites or social media chat groups, especially when opening hours change regularly, or new government measures are put in place.

We have found that shoppers can handle change, such as a new one way system, separate entrances and exits, or the requirement to wear a facemask, but they do need to know in advance and it may take a few reminders before it becomes the norm.  Our OnBrand radio and messaging system, Centre Radio, has proven essential to many of our clients, giving them the ability to create and load their latest safety messaging and government procedures in record production times.

Will 2020 be an online Christmas?

When surveying consumer sentiment post-COVID, and shopping intentions for the rest of the year, ShopperTrak found a number of positives for the high street.

Customers have more choice than ever to buy online, and unsurprisingly, 64% of consumers expect to use websites with home delivery this Christmas. But, alongside this online commitment, the intention is still also there to shop instore, use click and collect or buy online and collect curb-side.

Festive planning has been brought forward this year, as something for everyone to look forward to. For over a quarter of shoppers, Christmas shopping will have already started by September, with only 16% intending to leave festive planning until December. With the lack of opportunity to spend this year across both travel and hospitality sectors, there is potentially an opportunity for the retail sector to increase its share of pocket towards the end of the year.

However, shoppers are still price-conscious, with 48% mentioning that price would be a key factor when shopping in-store this Christmas. And the aversity to weekend shopping looks here to stay, with 82% of shoppers choosing weekdays rather than waiting for the weekend.

Despite 18% of shoppers planning to shop exclusively online, the in-store customer experience is still high on the agenda. Gifting inspiration, try before you buy, general convenience and advice from sales staff were all quoted as top reasons to visit stores this year, even with social distancing measures in place.

 

Unfortunately for high street retailers, 63% of those surveyed stated that they would shop less in-store this year, compared to previous years. This follows the post-COVID behaviour pattern mentioned earlier, identifying current shoppers as more focused on fewer trips, but spending more money per visit. This year they are not intending to hang around to browse or enjoy shopping as a leisure activity.

Safety is the key concern, both around how fellow shoppers will adhere to the rules, and the risk of contracting COVID-19, as well as the impact of social distancing on the overall shopping experience. Again, retailers should bear this in mind when preparing stores for shoppers currently in a different state of mind from past peak shopping seasons.

ShopperTrak’s predictions for peak shopping days in 2020

The webinar presented the following as critical factors that needed to be taken into account when predicting peak shopping days this year:

  • Weekends will lose emphasis as weekday shopping has levelled out
  • Retailers have brought forward some sale opportunities, which may impact traditional Black Friday or Super Saturday pre-Christmas peaks
  • Shopper surveys indicate that most people intend to shop less this year
  • As well as shoppers planning to shop earlier this year
  • E-commerce will have significant impact on in-store retail sales this year

 

The following dates are predicted to be the peak in-store shopping days for 2020:

  1. Saturday November 28th – Day after Black Friday
  2. Monday December 28th – Bank Holiday
  3. Saturday December 19th – Super Saturday
  4. Saturday December 12th – Saturday before Super Saturday!
  5. Saturday December 26th – Boxing Day

We will certainly be using this insight in our own marketing plans, as well as advising clients on how best to use their remaining Q4 marketing budgets. If you would like a pre-Christmas marketing strategy audit, website customer journey review or social media content refresh, please get in touch on 03333 220022 or sayhello@onbrand.co.uk.

 

May 03
0

Oh what fun! Great times with The Brewery Shopping Centre…

By | Case Study, Events, Shopping Centres

Whilst in lockdown, we’ve noticed the number of people taking time to reminisce about the ‘good times’ has definitely increased across social media.   Of course, we couldn’t help but take a little trip down memory lane ourselves…

Today, we’re reflecting on all the fun we’ve had so far working with The Brewery Shopping Centre, Romford.

When we were awarded the marketing contract in October 2018, we couldn’t wait to get stuck in, after all, who doesn’t love creating social media posts, thinking up events and making sure a website is in order? No? Oh, maybe that’s just us then…

…And a lot has happened in a year and a half of working with this awesome centre and management team. Get ready…

EVENTS

We love it when a client gives us the scope to be creative, and The Brewery get gold stars for this. We always like to make sure customers are happy and that we build memories, and we’re pleased to say, we think we’ve done just that, from family fun to community initiatives. Here’s just two!

Hug a Hedgehog (Family fun)

We created a Hug A Hedgehog event taking inspiration from one of the murals from the Brewery’s Art Trail project.  This kicked off the half term holidays activities and the strategy was to continue supporting and driving awareness of the Walk On The Wild Side project.  Hug A Hedgehog was designed to be an engaging, fun and a free event for families.

The results: An increased footfall of 2.2% and happy customers…
‘Aw it’s nice they do things like this for free.  It’s always fun to stop by.’ PARENT.

The Brewery Sleepout

With a high proportion of homelessness in the area, Centre Manager Tom Stobbart wanted to use the community and retailer influence of the shopping centre to make a change. Working with Kim Merry, founder of Homeless charity Hope4Havering, the concept of a retailer and management sleepout in the centre’s carpark was coined.

The results: Social reach soared to 12,317 and fundraising targets doubled to over £10k. Press in local papers and on radio also raised awareness of this very important topic, while retailers felt they were part of something important, thus boosting morale.

SOCIAL TALKS

Wow, who knew that social strategies could do such great things? Well, in this case we like to think it has, because we’re so pleased to announce that we have grown the Brewery’s social media reach from an average of 9k reach to 46k a month. That’s an increase of over 500%! How? Well, in a nutshell… We began with a hook of competitions (more of that below) and then, once we’d reeled everyone in, we got to work on a social strategy. We’re not afraid to admit, we created content around a trial and error approach – some posts worked better than others, but that’s what gave us the insight to work out what came next.

The result: A comprehensive strategy including community posts, real-life posts and a sprinkling of fun memes with celebrity ideas to boot.

COMPETITIONS

We love talking to people on the ground and that includes retailers. And it’s a good thing too, because our engagement with these guys means we secured 15 competitions over a 12 month period.

The results: A total of 2,609 entries and 19 very happy winners. On average we receive over 100 entries per a competition, and our most successful prize to date has been 2 tickets to Vue Cinema… #justsaying.

WEB WISE

Websites eh, they do a lot of work to bring in footfall and we know how important they are. That’s why over the year and a half that we have worked with the Brewery, we’ve ensured information such as opening and closing times, new stores and events are always updated.

The results: Website traffic is up 25% y-o-y in Q4, New Users up 23% y-o-y in Q4 and the bounce rate is also consistent y-o-y. The latter means that users are finding the information they need efficiently, which means we get a gold star 😊.

GROWING EMAIL

Yup, like a website, this is also a medium that’s key to driving that footfall and we’ve worked hard to grow the database through competitions, regular newsletters and raising the Brewery activities via the website.

The results: Grown email database from 4,735  to  7,977.  That’s a massive  40.7% database increase!

So that’s it in a bigger than average nutshell. Want your centre to be as great as this? Give us a call now!

 

 

 

 

Apr 14
0

A Positive Throwback: How we got Whitney Houston to drive engagement for Baytree Shopping Centre on Valentine’s Day…

By | Audio, Blog, Case Study, Events, In-Store, PR, Shopping Centres, Social

We thought we’d enjoy a little interlude from what’s going on in the mainstream news, to spread a little cheer and share  one of our favourite campaigns from earlier this year.

Question for you…What do you get when you mix a shopping centre, a dollop of love, a spoonful of Whitney Houston and some clever radio marketing alongside a sprinkle of social media magic?

An interesting recipe right?  Read on…

A bit of background

OnBrand’s history is deeply centred around radio, so much so that the whole company used to be called Centre Radio. And we’re proud to supply our most cost effective product, Centre Radio, to a wide range of different shopping malls up and down the country, with a variety of playlists and recorded messaging that can be updated and loaded quickly, especially in times when you need to react in a crisis.

We can make you feel good

We’re often reminding people that sounds can encourage a range of emotions. But did you know that positive feelings created by music can also help to increase both dwell time and sales in a shopping centre?  You can read more about the science behind it here.

However, today we’re not going to talk about science. Here’s an update on how we used Centre Radio creatively to have a bit of fun this Valentine’s Day at The Baytree Shopping Centre.

What went down

The Baytree Shopping Centre wanted to launch a simple Valentine’s Day competition, but with a twist. Something that would make shoppers want to ‘dance with somebody’ and engage them within the centre and on social media channels.

Centre Manager, Dan Foley didn’t really need to look very much further than OnBrand. We got right to the heart of the brief, which would mix all the elements together… (any Whitney fans getting our references yet?)

The chart-topping idea

A week-long competition that encouraged people to listen out for Whitney Houston’s, ‘I will always love you’ and then message the centre’s Facebook with the time that they heard it, in a bid to win a Valentine’s Gift Bundle.

Working closely with our audio team to ensure the track was played when the ‘Clock strike(d) upon the hour,’  our social media gurus then set to work promoting this awesome competition on the socials.

With a tightly planned schedule, we created banner advertising, posts and fun teasers, encouraging people to go into the centre and listen out for the tune, while giving them clear instructions on how to apply for a chance of winning.

The results

We generated plenty of seasonal engagement around this awesome competition, with customers emailing us to let us know they had specifically visited the centre just so they could hear the song… footfall – tick!

Another customer was also so chuffed at the ‘creativity’ they mentioned it in their entry comment.

And let’s not forget how happy the winner is…

At Onbrand, we talk a lot about memorable experiences, happy customers and success stories… it just  makes us ‘so emotional baby’!

Looking for a unique competition idea? Get in touch on sayhello@onbrand.co.uk.

We’re ‘saving all our (creative) love for you…..’

 

 

 

Apr 14
0

In the Sound of Silence… Is background music important in a shopping centre?

By | Audio, Blog, In-Store, Shopping Centres

Listen. Hear that?

If you’re in a city centre and all you can hear are raised voices and revving engines, it probably means there’s a good chance that something else has slipped past your radar. Music. As forgettable as they seem, the songs that play in the background of shopping malls and supermarkets are as much a part of the experience as your loyalty card or bag for life.

But how can something so important slip past us so easily? If we can barely tell it’s there, why bother, right? Maybe, we’re better off shopping in silence – they do say it’s golden after all.

Or maybe not. You don’t need to be a scientist to know that a shop with no music feels weird, but in case you were in any doubt, mood-setting music has been shown time and time again to work best for retailers when it’s there.

However, does anyone give it any notice?

It’s like the air we breathe; we only speak up when there’s a problem. Take it away though, and there’s no atmosphere.

When we think of shopping tunes, the first thing that probably pops into your head are upbeat top 40 bangers, those songs we hear played over and over until they become instantly recognisable.

Maybe the rationale of business owners putting them over the intercom is that familiarity is a way to fast track comfort. Popular tracks everyone knows will make people feel more at home, and a welcoming retail environment is more likely to create regular customers.

This idea hinges on people recognising the songs being played, so we know it sounds counterintuitive to be told it’s better for business when customers don’t recognise the music they’re listening to, but stick with us here: Several studies have proven that playing slower music causes shoppers to take longer in stores, and by not rushing, they end up spending more.

Spangenberg and Yalch (2000) found that playing music unfamiliar (and so less obvious) to customers, not only hardly changed its enjoyment, but it also had this time-stretching effect.

There’s lots of theories as to why this might be, but the prevailing one is that when we hear music we know, we feel time passing slower than normal. This makes sense right?

Who’s not listened to a favourite song and it felt monumental, when the run-time is only a couple of minutes? When all the background songs mush together, our body clocks have a hard time working out how long it’s been since we started doing something.

That said, having a whole load of people milling about might not always be the savviest sales option.

Maybe your aisles are getting a little over-crowded, or there’s a queue of families waiting for a table. The answer? Pick up the pace a little.

The good news for retailers is…

When we are under music’s influence, these studies consistently find we have absolutely no idea, even if it seems blatant on paper. Hargreaves, McKendrick, and North’s experiment in a wine bar (1999) found that buyers were more likely to go for French wines when ‘obviously French-sounding’ music was playing, with the same effect on German wines with ‘German-sounding’ music. Customers also spent more on wine when classical music played instead of pop; in neither case did they think the music had affected their choices.

So, let’s get controversial for a moment and make a bold claim:

If you want customers to stick around and spend a little more, maybe it’s time to call time on in-shop pop. Its bouncy rhythms and anthemic choruses might be enticing, but as far as research goes, all signs point toward less being more.

Hard to believe we know, but there’s nothing that makes us want to stay and blow our hard-earned cash than slow songs we haven’t heard before. We guess silence isn’t the only thing that’s golden.

 

Sep 30
0

How’d you like them apples? How we helped The Baytree Shopping Centre win a Green Apple Award

By | Case Study, PR, Shopping Centres

We love writing. Social posts, style articles, quirky bits of copy and awards entries. Especially when they win! And that’s exactly what happened when it came to The Baytree Shopping Centre’s Green Apple Awards entry. Here’s how the story goes.

Getting to the core of it

We knew The Baytree Shopping Centre Manager, Dan Foley, wanted to enter these awards. However, we were up against tight deadlines and challenged with a lack of information to support the entry.  And when we did get all the bits and pieces through, we really had to pull in all resources to ensure that we could get these awards written right at the last minute…

Slicing up the key points

Lots of info is so much better than nothing, but when you’ve got to cut it down, well…our challenge was to pick out the key points of what was really needed. We closely reviewed the criteria of the awards and spent a while matching it up to the information we were provided with. So far so good. However, then came the sticking point…there was evidence missing. We knew the deadline was the next day, but we couldn’t risk submitting an entry lacking in substance (we’re thorough like that you see…) so, we spoke to Dan and advised against submitting an award lacking in substantial evidence. He agreed that an extension for a late submission would work better.

Baking and waiting

After a rewrite and approval from The Baytree Shopping Centre, we inputted the golden entry. Held our breath and pressed enter. And then we waited. And waited and… the news came in a couple of weeks ago that our awesome client had only gone and won! Celebrations and social media announcements all round…

An additional slice of success

And just when we thought it couldn’t get better, our social media had attracted the attention of a local journalist who couldn’t wait to get a press release. Cue, more fast writing and a great result. We made the local online paper (upload the coverage)! How’d you like them apples 😊

Got an award entry that needs writing, or press release? Get in touch and see how we can help grow your marketing. Pip, pip…

Sep 04
0
concierge at McArthur Glen

Creating an inspirational late night shopping event

By | Case Study, Events, PR, Shopping Centres

How roaming entertainment and random acts of kindness came together to create a night (and day) to remember at McArthur Glen Designer Outlet Store in Ashford.

The Dream

McArthur Glen wanted to stage something a little different for their latest late-night shopping event. Staying true to their brand, they asked us for an aspirational and inspirational event, with impactful entertainment which would stand out from the crowd, in more ways than one.

Our challenge was to find the right kind of top-class entertainment that had enough presence to be noticed among throngs of shoppers and lots of background noise, at the same time as creating a lasting impact for the visitors.

The budget was £7,500 – £8,000.

Our Remedy

Our solution to noticeable entertainment was to bring in a roaming band – Rome – who could entertain shoppers with lots of different performances, bringing the entertainment and the shopping experience together as one.

We also provided a team of six ‘brand ambassadors’ to meet and greet and offer random acts of kindness throughout the day and evening. Each ambassador had a £200 gift card to randomly treat shoppers with by offering to buy gifts for them. This delightful touch ended with visitors receiving their child’s first pair of shoes, or their family evening meal, completely free of charge.

Refreshed and Revived

Our ideas came together to create a truly innovative event. Our band delighted their audiences by delivering unique and imaginative entertainment. Songs were created to celebrate the event itself, with some Wagamama diners being serenaded with the chicken katsu song and even singing special requests in-store.

The uniformed brand ambassadors were a hit too. They were easy to spot and provided some excellent additional branding for the event.

Along with the standard discounts on the day, of up to 70% off designer brands, these lovely ladies made surprise purchases of anything from flip-flops to food. Their random acts of kindness were like dreams come true for the shoppers who have since responded with fantastic feedback on the event.

The morning after the night before

Altogether, the event lived up to the dream of something different, something aspirational and something that fitted with the high-end, high-quality McArthur Glen brand. To top it all off, we gained some amazing press coverage in Kent Live and Hello Ashford.

Aug 21
0
OnBrand running the Baytree's charity fundraiser

Charity fundraising for Great Ormond Street Hospital

By | Case Study, Events, Shopping Centres

OnBrand and Baytree Shopping Centre hold a truly great charity fundraising day for Great Ormond Street Hospital raising £1,360.

Great Idea

Our brief was to pull together a fun, colourful, exciting day with lots of entertainment and fundraising opportunities as well as raising the awareness of the charity. This day was part of an ongoing annual event in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

The budget for the event was £1,000.

Great Support

The idea of the event was to raise as much money as possible, with minimal spend. Therefore, we were delighted to get so many volunteers from in and around the Baytree Shopping Centre.

With a combination of this support and some great organisational skills from the OnBrand team, we pulled together a fun, inspiring charity event.

A Great Partnership

Nicholls Build are the building and maintenance contractors for Baytree and they offered up a team of four for a sponsored cycle. They each rode 125 miles (a great total of 500 miles) starting from the shopping centre on the morning of the event and passing Great Ormond Street Hospital.

OnBrand set up a fundraiser page, promoted the sponsored cycle on social media and on the Baytree website and produced banners and posters in the centre.

Nicholls Build also painted Baytree’s wooden train in GOSH colours and it was used as a focal point for other activities in the centre. Some prizes were donated by security provider MyTag.

OnBrand ran a simple colouring competition, encouraging children to post their entries through the train letterbox for a chance to win one of MyTag’s prizes – five £10 WHSmith vouchers. Our social media and local poster promotion meant this was a busy and popular activity on the day.

Another Baytree service provider, OCS, made a generous donation of two ATP Tennis Final tickets which enabled a raffle to be held. Baytree staff sold tickets for £2 during the week leading up to the event and then promotional staff took over on the day itself.

OnBrand coordinated the publicity for the raffle, with posts on social media and the website, local posters and centre radio announcements.

Great Excitement

At Onbrand, our aim was to generate excitement and a buzz around the event to encourage lots of visitors and lots of donations.

We organised a ‘special guest’ in the shape of a Lego Man who handed out balloons and lollies in the centre. Accompanied by promotional staff with collection buckets, he was a bit hit after a week-long social media campaign.

We also maximised fundraising by arranging for a face painter to be positioned near to the wooden train, a local choir group, The Big Sing, and children’s performing group, Razzamataz, to do charity performances and for lots of promotional staff to be available on the day to collect money and support the various activities.

A Great Outcome

We’re pleased to say that our efforts resulted in £1,360 being raised for such a great cause.

If you’re planning an event, get in touch and see how we can help.

Aug 29
0

Creating a community

By | Audio, Case Study, Digital, Events, Shopping Centres, Social

The Baytree Shopping Centre has been a crucial part of the town centre for Brentwood shoppers for a number of years, with its wide range of stores surrounding a central café hub and thriving fitness centre on the second floor.

The centre management recognised the importance of captivating the local community and wanted their shopper to have a better shopping experience, both on and offline.

Focusing on smarter marketing

In order to grow its reputation as the heart of shopping in Brentwood, the centre management team identified that, in order to achieve this, they would need to seek out a marketing agency.

OnBrand were thrilled to be appointed in January 2018 as the outsourced marketing agency for the Baytree Centre.  Specialising in smart marketing using customer knowledge, OnBrand creates and delivers the Baytree Centre marketing strategy across all channels: digital, social, audio and events.

Working very closely with Dan Foley, the Baytree Centre Manager, OnBrand delivers a ‘joined-up’ approach to marketing.

Our experience-led marketing programme covers all touchpoints on the shopper journey:  from poster advertising space to email marketing, PR and social media engagement, to excite customers with competitions and events.

‘We’ve seen a significant increase in our online presence, developed encouraging relationships with a number of our retailers who help support our marketing activities and held a number of successful events which received positive customer feedback’  – Dan Foley, Centre Manager

Delivering successful campaigns

Since working with the Baytree Shopping Centre, OnBrand has delivered a number of thriving community engaging campaigns with success stories across all marketing channels:

  1. Valentine’s Day social media saw a rise of 56% engagement during February thanks to our event, online competition and retailer offer activity
  2. Pre-promotion of our Mothers’ Day and Easter Activities drove April Facebook followers up by 300%, as well as increasing our reach by 150% talking to over 5,000 local shoppers
  3. Dedicated April Twitter activity saw page impressions grow by nearly 4,000, reaching over 17,000 in one month, an all-time high for this channel

Building the future customer experience

With exciting developments coming soon to the centre, we are delighted to be collaborating on the 2019/20 marketing strategy for the Baytree Shopping Centre.  Our approach is to provide a continued balance of customer retention & customer acquisition activities, developing a whole host of new ideas to be delivered across digital, social, audio and events.